Group Bible Study

We are thinking about the last seven sayings of Jesus during the six hours He was on the cross. We are up to the seventh and last saying: 7) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.  47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man."  48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.  49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things (Luke 23:46-49). After Christ said these words, His body went limp. His head hung down, and He gave up His Spirit. Even the hardened centurion, when he saw how Christ died, was convinced, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54). Supernatural phenomena took place ...

We are continuing our meditation on the seven last sayings of Christ during the six hours that He was on the cross. Our last meditation was about Christ’s thirst, where He was given sour vinegar held in a sponge lifted to him on the stalk of the hyssop plant. He needed to be able to shout to all listening a loud cry of victory, His sixth saying: 6) “It is finished” (John 19:30). When Jesus felt the time had come, the three synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), tell us Jesus shouted out a loud shout, but neither of them tells us what it was He shouted. Only John standing near to the cross with Mary gives us the one word in Greek, “ tetelestai!” It is translated as:  it is finished  in most English Bibles. It was not a shout of weariness, but great victory. Filling His lungs one more time by pushing on the piece of wood at His feet, Jesus shouted out loudly for the entire world to hear, “It is finished!”  This Greek word,  tetelestai , was a wo...

We are meditating on the seven last sayings of Christ on the cross. By the time of the fifth statement, Jesus had been on the cross more than five hours, His blood slowly dripping from all the wounds He had received. As death drew near, He spoke for the fifth time: 5) “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). Getting weak through the pain and loss of blood, Christ’s body was beginning to shut down, and as Psalm 22:15 states, His tongue was sticking to His mouth, a normal process of crucifixion.  This statement of Christ was foretold 1000 years previously by King David, who wrote, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth” (Psalm 22:15).  Some scholars say that being thirsty, He was beginning to suffer in His body what the rich man experienced in hell upon death (Luke 16:24). Their thought is that due to the sins of the world being laid upon Christ, His body was now beginning to experience what those in Hell experience. The...

We are continuing our daily meditations on the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, specifically looking at the crucifixion and the seven last sayings of Christ while on the cross. In the midst of the darkness after midday, Jesus spoke the fourth saying: 4) "'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' - which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"' (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). This statement seems strange to many because, as a totally innocent human being, being brought into the world with no human father, and born of a virgin with no taint of Adam’s sin, the question arises: Why would Christ feel forsaken of God? To die as a sacrificial substitute was the very reason Christ came into the world. The penalty against Adam, our forefather, was clear: " but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die" (Genesis 2:17). This judgment of sin came ...

We are continuing our meditation on the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and especially, the seven last statements that Christ made while on the cross. Today we look at the third statement: 3) “He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold your son!' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold your mother!'” (John 19:26-27). Looking down from the cross, Jesus saw His mother, Mary, standing and being supported by the apostle John.  We don't hear of Joseph, Mary's husband, being around during Jesus' ministry. Joseph had died at some point, but the Scriptures are quiet as to what happened to him. To care for Mary was Jesus' responsibility due to being the firstborn of the family. He did not pass on the responsibility to His half-brothers. He asked John, the disciple whom He loved, to take care of Mary. He did not call her mother, but woman, lest people attribute divinity to her. There are some who say that Mary should be acknowl...

We are continuing our meditation on the crucifixion of Christ, and specifically, the seven statements of Christ in the six hours that He hung there. The second thing Jesus spoke was to the repentant thief crucified alongside. 2) "I tell you the truth today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). Let’s look at why Christ said these words, and the implications of His statement. Mark’s Gospel tells us that , “Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him” (Mark 15:32).  In the beginning, both of the men crucified with Christ insulted Him in the hope that, if He were the Son of God, they could goad Him into coming down from the cross and help them, too. Later, Luke tells us that one was silent while the other continued in hurling insults:  39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"  40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "...

We are continuing our meditation on the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and especially today the crucifixion itself:   34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.  35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."  36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar  37 and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."  38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.  39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"  40 But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence?  41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds...